Epic fail! But now I'm back

So, what does one do when one has not made a blog post since February 27 and it's April 19.  Sheesh.  Epic fail.  That's bad.  I offer no excuse except that I've actually been so busy and scattered that I actually missed a few meals in the last few months.  Anyone who knows me knows that's a BIG deal.  I NEVER miss meals.  NEVER.  Well, I never used to.  Honestly, balancing an intense and busy work schedule with a new baby and a baseball coach for a husband is the hardest thing I've ever done.  The past two months have been a blur when it comes to everything except Kimber.  My friend Amy explained to me last week that for all the period of time when her kids were young (3 of them) she felt like she did everything halfway, meaning she could never give full attention to one thing for too long.  That totally describes how my life has been.  I have felt like I'm not giving enough at work because it's less than what I'm used to.  But, every time I give extra at work, I'm sacrificing time at home with my little angel, which I HATE.  So, it's been a complicated two months for me.  A delicate balance.  I will say that motherhood teaches you so much.  I've learned that I can handle things far past what I thought was my breaking point.  It's a strength you have when you're a mother that I can't describe.  I thank God for that strength because I have needed it.  I haven't handled every situation with the grace that I would've liked, but I made it.  We made it through tax season and busy season all rolled into one.  For that I am grateful.  Ah, the perils of a working mommy. 
Back to the most important topic: our Kimber girl.  She is still absolute perfection.  She is so feisty and such a challenge at times and I love it.  I love it because I see so much of myself and Clayton in her.  That doesn't mean it's easy, but gosh I love her.  Let me recap the past 2 months.  On March 2, Kimber turned 6 months old.  That was also the first day she sat up on her own without falling over.  This busy mommy loves that because I never have time to write in her baby book.  I'll have no problem remembering the date.  Kimber's official 6 month old stats at the doctor were: 17 lbs 7 oz, 26.5 inches long.  For Kimber's 6 month pics, I wanted to take them outside at the baseball field, so we had a wonderful friend oblige.  They turned out great!  I love them. 

Kimber still loves to eat (duh, she is mine).  Her favorite veggies are peas and sweet potatoes.  She loves apples too.  April 2 (her 7 month birthday) was the first day Kimber crawled successfully on her hands and knees.  Before that point, she was just doing a military type crawl on her belly.  Yet another milestone on a birthday, thank you Kimber. :))  Now, she's super mobile and crawling everywhere.  She wants to play with everything she's not necessarily supposed to touch (of course).  Everything goes in her mouth.  Typical 7 month old.  It's perfectly adorable and she is perfectly busy!!  Busy busy. 

(exploring at my mom's house)

Our first Easter was fun.  No egg hunting this year but we did put Kimber in her Easter basket at the neighborhood Easter egg hunt.  :))  Then we took the obligatory family Easter picture, which by the way means so much more now!!

a pic with her Easter bunny from Grammy :))

Easter afternoon was so much fun.  We spent the better part of the day at Clayton's mom's house with all of our family sitting outside after we enjoyed a yummy meal.  The pool was heated so we took Kimber swimming, and she absolutely loved the water.  I think the weightlessness of the water is really neat for her because she gets so relaxed.  She might take a nap in her little float if there wasn't so much going on.  Here are a few pics of her swimming.  :)

Now, at 7.5 months, Kimber is pulling up on everything and wants to stand so bad.  She stands up in her crib now and looks at us (and chews on the rail).  Of couse, we already have a few bo-bos from being a tad too adventurous. 

Here's a video of her standing (a day before she fell doing the same thing and got a shiner right by her eye)

Raggedy Ann and Andy are some of Kimber's favorite people - I am pretty sure she thinks they're real, and I think she likes Ann's hair.  Cracks me up.  In all seriousness, sometimes the Raggedy's save us from some crying near bedtime.  She just loves them so much.   Other notable dates:  yesterday (april 18) was the first ear infection (boooooooo), Monday April 16, she said "Da-da" and last night (April 18) she said "Ma-ma".  Yes, I nearly melted.  She was even looking at me when she said it.  So perfect.  I guess that somewhat brings us up to speed.  I'm hoping to be better about blogging and to do some major catching up around the house.  Of course, most importantly, I'll be spending a lot of time with Kimber!!!  :))

Time Flies! (Not the first nor the last time I'll say that!)

In the past week, Kimber has transformed into a little kid.  She's so observant - reaching, grabbing - it's crazy!  We're still all super busy in the Stewart household. so we have to carefully carve out family time and we do treasure each moment!  Kimber has been rolling up a storm.  She had rolled a few times before, but then suddenly she decided she could do much more.  Now she rolls to get around (while trying so very hard to move those legs and crawl).  I know it won't be long until she's mobile.  SCARY!  Wasn't it just yesterday she was born?  Good Lord.  Gosh, we just sit around and wonder what we did before her!  ( I think I watched TV and drank wine but I can't be sure). 

The 60 day weight loss challenge at boot camp ended today, so it's safe to say today is my "fat" day.  I won't enumerate what I ate before 10 am because it's a little scary, even to me.  But tomorrow, it's back to the grind.  I still have a ways to go until swimsuit acceptable, and even further to swimsuit in public aceptable stage.  So, the work continues.  As for tonight, I'm going to Dairy Bar (a local legend) for a hand dipped corn dog (maybe 2).  You might think it's strange to reward myself with something like that.  a) this is no ordinary corn dog.  It's legend, wait for it.....dary.  b) I ate there a lot when I was preg so I've kind of missed it.  I'll probably get tater tots too.  Gosh, I hope the trainers aren't reading this.  lol

The Angleton Wildcat baseball team has not had a pretty season thus far, but we're hoping that turns around.  Like soon.  Maybe tomorrow?  We shall see. 

Here's a video of my steamroller baby:

 
Yesterday, Rommy (Rhonda) bought Kimber a swing and hung it from a tree in her backyard.  It's actually for 9 months and up, but as Rhonda says, she thinks Kimber is really mature.  So, naturally we hung the swing and put her in it.  She loved it.  Here are some pics.  :))

Gosh, I love this little one!  How fun spring is going to be!!!! 

Stages of "nap" time

So we're still kind of trying to figure out/get Kimber in a sleeping routine.  Our sitter Angie does a wonderful job during the day of keeping her on schedule (she can be credited for getting her on a schedule in the first place).  I know it's hard to believe, but Kimber does occasionally try to buck the system, especially on the weekends, no matter how hard I try to keep her on her routine.  She's still growing and changing so I'm sure this is to be expected (I REALLY really hope haha).  This past Sunday when "naptime" rolled around, she was clearly on her own timetable.  She gets restless, so I thought I'd try the route of putting her in her crib so she could "put herself to sleep"....yeah right.

                                                               "Nap" time Stage 1

"Nap" time Stage 2

"Nap" time Stage 3

A Screaming Fit which I refrained from recording, mainly because I didn't have a free hand, and also, it wasn't pretty!

"Nap" time Stage 4 (FINALLY)

She's so adorable it's hard to be anything but patient. 

She fills our lives with sunshine

My what a difference 5 months makes. My mother-in-law always told me 5 months was the magic number, but I wasn't sure it would apply to me. Don't get me wrong - Kimber has always been precious, but she is so much fun right now. Kimber has the sweetest spirit and is so happy all the time. It is so much fun listening to her giggle, hearing her squeals of delight, and seeing her beautiful smile! She's changing constantly - seems like one day she can't do something and then all of a sudden the next day, she does it with no struggle at all!! Craziness. Haha.

Bath time is a real adventure. The minute her feet hit the water, she's kicking with all the gusto she can muster. That pretty much continues the entire time. Suffice it to say, she's difficult to bathe alone. That leads me to the next thing - WOW this is a busy time of year. I'm swamped at work with the overlap of audit and tax season. Clayton is starting baseball tournament season and is rarely home before 7 on a regular day. Game days are super long (thus the reason I've been practicing bathing squirmy pants alone). I'm rushing into town somewhere between 6:15 and 6:45 and it's nonstop playing, cuddling and loving with Kimber until she goes to bed between 8 and 8:30. Who has time for dinner???? Again, I knew it would be this way, but I guess I'm surprised how long and crazy the days are. Of course the sweetest part of any day is the time I get to spend with Kimber or Clayton or BOTH!

To add to the madness, I've been doing a bootcamp to get back in shape. I started in November and did the December session as well - then proceeded to eat my way through the holiday season (that's what you're supposed to do, right?). Anyway, on January 2, we started a 60 day challenge in bootcamp and I'm proud to say I've lost 23 pounds since then. I still have a ways to go seeing as how I was well above where I wanted to be when I got pregnant, but it feels good to be on my way. I'm trying to stay motivated! Getting up at 5:00am 3 days a week isn't the most fun thing I've ever done, but it's worth it to be to feel good about myself and be a healthy mom!!

I guess that's about all I need to report. Kimber is sleeping through the night regularly now, with only the occasional glitch. It's wonderful. Guess I'm technically no longer sleep deprived which means I can no longer use that as excuse when I do something stupid! Lol.

Here are some pics I took of Baby K today :)

My little love

This sweet little girl is teaching Clayton and I more and more what love is about. She's such a precious gift!

Isn't this funny?  I'm glad she likes herself.  :))

So far, so good on the sleeping.  We may have turned a corner (yes, I just knocked on wood).  This morning at 4:00 was playtime though - guess she figured she'd slept enough.  We (again) had the conversation about night-night time.  Other than today, she's doing great and sleeping through the night, with the occasional trip into her room to put the pacifier in her mouth. 

It's so encouraging for me to read the blogs/facebook posts of other moms.  I never knew how much I'd appreciate the small things.  :)) 

Hope everyone is having a great week!

Little Miss Chatterbox

We have a talker on our hands, folks.  Well, for now it's just adorable babbles, but seriously, this girl LOVES the sound of her own voice.  heehee

Gosh I feel like Kimber changes daily.  I sat down to write this post and I can't believe how much she's changed since Jan. 10 - and that was only 13 days ago!  For instance, she's SUPER close to rolling over from her back to her tummy.  She has already rolled from her tummy to her back (non-parents bear with me, these are exciting things to a new mommy).  She has tried a few foods, and LOVES to eat.  Shocker.  Not really.  I have a suspicion about where she gets that from.  So far, she's had oatmeal, sweet potatoes, and squash.  I'm introducing all vegetables first, since fruits are so sweet and delish to babies and I'm sure she'll like them.  I want her to like veggies too.  We're still moving pretty slow on the food though.  I only bought a teeny bit and she gets some about every other day or so.  She is getting closer to being ready though.  She seems genuinely excited about the food (that's an understatement since she tries to guide my hand with the spoon to her mouth using her own busy hands).  So, obviously, she recognizes the spoon and what's in it.  I believe her only complaint would be that I don't get the spoon to her mouth fast enough!!! 

Clayton starts baseball season this Friday, so I'll be losing some time with my helper and we will both miss him.  But, I intend to spend plenty of time at the baseball field.  Kimber loves to be outside so I know she will enjoy it and she's a complete flirt, so I'm sure there are some people up there she can charm.  The spring is a hard time for Clayton and I - we are both SO busy this time of year.  I remember this time last year when I was pregnant wondering how the heck we thought we were going to manage the spring with a baby.  Now, we're about to find out.  Parenthood = baptism by fire.  Kimber has been going down for bed pretty early, so maybe I'll be able to schedule some "work from home" time after she's asleep.  Right now, we're so excited about the thought of sleep that it's a race to see who can brush teeth and get in bed the fastest.  And......not trying to count chickens before they hatch, BUT the last two nights, someone tiny who shall remain nameless has slept THROUGH the night.  I'm convinced it's a fluke, but the two nights of sleep were nice.  :))  I've found that if we catch her at just the right time, before the overtired state hits, she goes right down and sleeps longer.  I've started reading a book called "Healthy Sleep Habits, Happy Child".  Can't tell you the author since I downloaded it on the iPad.  But, so far, it's pretty good.  Mind you, I'm still in the introduction because THAT'S how much time I have to read. :)  But, I wouldn't have it any other way.  This is such a fun age.  Kimber notices so much and is reaching for people and things and of course, putting ANYTHING and everything into her mouth - HANDWASHING is key......

I wish I could recall anything else going on in my life, but it's consumed with only one perfect, tiny, adorable thing.  :))  Here are some pics:

Girl loves to eat

The post-eating face. :))  We go straight to the bathtub

This is one of several videos I have of Kimber trying to roll over.  Every time she looks like she's going to, I grab my phone and turn on the video recorder, determined to capture the first time.  I'm sure that won't happen, but here's the best attempt we've seen. 

On another note, we do clothe our child.  But, she really likes to just chill in her diaper, so I indulge her every now and then - especially when she's eating because that's a mess anyway.  heehee

There, I added a picture to prove she does wear clothes.